Just a Possibility
by LizardBot
Summary: For the record, Nnoitra hated dancing, but there was a masquerade ball, and it was her birthday. So, yeah, he'd kinda gotten himself into a tight spot. Companion fic to Valid Reasoning. AU
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N:_** This is a companion fic to _Valid Reasoning_, written in honor of Nerielle, who writes the best damned Tesla/Nnoitra/Neliel fics I have ever had the pleasure of reading. If you know what's good for you, you'll read them too. This is a twofer, meaning that there'll be another chapter after this, and that's that. Enjoy!

P.S. By the way, the gay joke is just that, a joke. It's not meant to be offensive, it's just there for humor reasons. Got a problem with it? Flame me, I don't give a damn, just try your best to understand that it's just a joke. Nothing more.

_-_

**Chapter One**

_They were dancing together_

_-_

For the record, Nnoitra _hated_ dancing. That fancy ballroom crap just wasn't for him—then again, what straight guy was it…for? ("And I'm not talkin' about those "oh, I'm just experimenting" guys, either. I mean the "straight as a pole" ones."  
"That has got to be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard you say.") –but there was a masquerade ball, and it was her fucking birthday.

So, yeah, he'd kinda gotten himself into a bit of a tight spot. _Obviously_ five shots of vodka and a couple of sleeping pills mistaken for Advil just didn't mix well. Throw in a best friend and her infamous puppy-dog pout, and five minutes after waking up with a whopper of a headache, he realized that he'd really done it this time.

It wasn't so much the fact that she was the best friend, and the face she was pulling that got him. It had more to do with something entirely different. Something he'd been spending far too much time thinking about lately. Oddly enough, he could never bring himself to shy away from the subject. If anything, he _liked_ to think about it, about the possibility (because that's all it could ever be, you see, just a possibility) of _them._

And, obviously, he'd let his feelings for her get the best of him, because…well…look where he was!

He glowered at himself in the mirror, fingers tucked between his tie and neck, as he tugged at the thing. What a pain. Not only was it itchy and uncomfortable, but it made him look like a total _dork_.

He huffed, and fumbled with the thing for a few more moments, before finally giving up and heading out, a plain black eye mask tucked into his coat pocket. He didn't put it on until he reached the hotel, where the party was being hosted.

As soon as he stepped into the room, he had to remind himself _why_ he was doing this.

Because he loooooo—Oh, no_. No_, absolutely not. He didn't…that is to say, er, well, _you know_.

With a sigh of exasperation—at the situation, at his train of thought—he made his way over to the open bar. If there was one thing he liked about these stupid dances, it was the free booze.

Hell, if he was going to make an ass out of himself tonight (which he knew he would) he might as well have an excuse for it.

He reached for his glass, and scowled as someone else picked it up.

Turning to glare at the thief, he instead gaped at the woman beside him.

He'd recognized her immediately, of course. He was just…well…surprised. He hadn't expected her to look so…

"Beautiful…" he said, and found himself fighting the ridiculous urge to blush.

Neliel's quirked eyebrow told him that she heard, and her eyes danced with mirth behind her mask. "What was that, Nnoitra?" she asked in a teasing tone, and leaned a little too close for comfort. Her dress certainly wasn't helping.

It wasn't that bad, really. The hem brushed the floor, and the sleeves reached her elbows, but the neck line. Oh god, the neck line. It dipped low, exposing more than what was—in his opinion—appropriate.

"So, how 'bout a dance?" Neliel offered, smiling prettily, and Nnoitra almost groaned.

He said, "Maybe later." Or maybe never.

She was disappointed. He could see it, even with the mask hiding her features. But she simply shrugged, and said, "Okay." before plopping down on the stool beside him, and resting her elbow on the bar, as she cradled her chin in her hand.

They stayed that way for a few minutes, Neliel with her chin in her hand, and Nnoitra drinking his brandy, until someone finally walked over. A man, who sidled up beside Neliel, blocking her from Nnoitra's view, and offering his hand.

"Hi," the man said with a shy smile. "I'm Tesla."

Nnoitra scowled at the back of this man's head, his grip tightening around the glass in his hand. Who the hell did this man think he was? He opened his mouth to say something snarky, to alert the man of his presence, and let him know that Neliel was with someone. But then the girl had to go and introduce herself…

"I'm Neliel." she said with that smile of hers, the smile that she only ever used for him.

What. The. Hell.

He glared down at their hands, fitting together for a shake.

"Would you care for a dance, Ms. Neliel?" This man, _Tesla_, asked, still holding Nel's hand firmly in his. Nnoitra couldn't help but think that this man looked awfully familiar.

He opened his mouth to say, "No! She wouldn't _care_ for a dance!" but his date had already agreed, and was whisking—yes, _whisking_—this Tesla guy away, heading straight for the dance floor with a flourish of her dress, and that smile on her face.

Nnoitra turned back towards the bar, silently cursing, and gulping down the rest of his drink. He blinked and looked up when he realized that the bar tender was staring at him, all the while shaking his head. "What?" he asked angrily.

The other man looked him right in the eye, and said, "That was harsh."

Nnoitra wasn't sure if he should gape or yell at the man. So he did neither, instead opting to twist around on his stool, watch Neliel and Tesla glide across the dance floor, completely in sync with each other, and feeling more irate than he ever thought possible.

Tesla leaned in close to Neliel, almost hesitantly, and whispered something to her that made a deep red dust her cheeks, and a light laugh escape her lips, as she whispered something back to him.

Oh, that was it. This guy was going down.

Nnoitra stood quickly, ignoring the bar tender, who called something out to him—"Yeah, man, you go get your girl!"—and made a b-line for the couple on the dance floor.

Just as Neliel spun out, Nnoitra took hold of her extended hand, and yanked her out of Tesla's grasp, looking down at her confused face as she folded into his arms.

Tesla stared in surprise, eyebrows narrowing in confusion.

"Sorry," Nnoitra said, "but it looks like I'll be cutting in." he threw the other man a challenging look as he pulled Nel further into the crowd, eager to get her away from _him_.

As he pulled her around to face him, placing his arm on her waist, and gliding her hand to his shoulder, he caught sight of her smiling at him with the smile that was, and would only ever be, for him.

"So I guess it's later then, huh?" she asked teasingly.

He scoffed, but pulled her a little closer. "Guess it is."

As he stared into her eyes, he thought; It would be nice, wouldn't it? If they were more than just a possibility.


	2. Chapter 1: Outtake

**A/N:** An outtake from Chapter One. This is not the second chapter.

**Chapter 1.5**

-

He watched them leave, saw them kiss in front of the hotel as he was climbing into his car.

She hadn't even recognized him, probably wouldn't realize that it was he behind that mask the next day, when she showed up at work and greeted him with a friendly smile, and a cheerful, "Good morning!"

It was no use. He realized, upset, and disappointed, but certainly not surprised. It would be a lie if he said he hadn't seen this coming from a mile away.

He wasn't an idiot. He'd known from the start that there was someone else; Known that man meant something to her when he saw her staring at him over his shoulder as they hit the dance floor. But, for a second, he could've sworn he'd had her full attention. He'd even crossed his comfort zone, and flirted with the woman. And, much to his surprise, she'd flirted back.

But that that man—Nnoitra, was it?—had interrupted them, and dragged her away. The worst part was; she didn't even seem to mind. In fact, she was so obviously happy about it.

Had her flirting been a ploy to rile her crush up enough to get him to act?

He let out a defeated sigh, and leaned back in his seat. _If that had been the case, then it worked._ He thought, almost bitterly, as he eyed the couple, still pressed against each other in front of the hotel, completely oblivious to everything around them.

Tesla started the car, and pulled out of the parking lot, unaware of the fact that it wouldn't be Nel he saw at work the next day, but Nnoitra.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Two**

_Then He Realized_

_-_

He didn't even realize until the next day.

He'd always been pretty quick on the uptake. All A's in school, sharp mind, quick response system, and an even quicker wit, but throw in his best friend and a low-cut dress (throw in his best friend _without_ the low-cut dress) and all of a sudden he was no brains and all…other things.

Come Saturday, they both had the day off, so they—and by 'they' he of course meant _Nel_—decided to head into town and do a bit of shopping. She all but dragged him into a shop filled with shoes and hats, where he spent most of his time reading the morning paper, and muttering unintelligibly when she asked his opinion on a hat.

When she finally got tired of him (or so she said, anyway, but her grin was telling him otherwise) she sent him off to get a cup of coffee with a name that he couldn't even pronounce—a name that he had try to repeat seven times so that he didn't forget it.

He visited four different coffee shops before he found that cup of coffee with a name that he couldn't even pronounce. He bought one for Nel, and a black coffee for himself. Then he had to buy them all over again, because some idiot had come stumbling in, knocking the drink carrier out of Nnoitra's hands, and drenching the woman next to him—the woman wearing all white—in coffee. That, of course, led to him being slapped. So he bought another couple of drinks, rubbing his cheek all the while, and stepped outside.

Rather than immediately head back to the hat shop, he decided to stop off at a book store up the street. Nel had recently gotten a job there (why, he would never know—she didn't even like to read), and he'd found that the books they sold weren't half bad. Mostly romance and really bad mystery novels, but the fantasy section didn't suck too much. He took one step into that store and it hit him like a frying pan to the face.

The man working the counter was more than a little familiar, even without that damned mask, and Nnoitra felt his blood boil all over again. Had this guy been working here all along, and he had just never realized it? Or was it that he was _stalking_ Nel? Either way, Nnoitra wasn't having it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Three**

_Back Off_

_-_

The morning hadn't exactly been the best. The previous nights events had left him a little depressed, and he'd spent a good half hour just lying in bed before deciding that he couldn't just laze around all day. After all, he had work and errands, and his sister was expecting him for lunch.

Not only that, but he refused to let something like this make him obsolete. Okay, so he hadn't gotten the girl, but that didn't mean the end of the world. Like that old saying goes, "There are other fish in the pond," or something like that…

He went through his daily ritual, feeling a little more upbeat about things as time passed. It was about an hour before he made it out of his apartment, grabbing his baseball cap and messenger bag on his way out the door.

Despite his change in attitude, he still found himself cringing slightly when he came across little things that reminded him of Nel. When he stopped by his usual café, they were serving that ridiculous overly-sugary drink—the one with the name that he couldn't pronounce. On his way up the street, he passed the pet store that she would always stop in front of, taking the time to gush over the puppies in the front window. Once when they'd gone off to lunch together, she'd told him that she'd always wanted a puppy, even though she knew her cat wouldn't much appreciate it.

And yeah, of course they'd gone out together before, but Nel had never quite looked at him the way she looked at her friend—Nnoitra, was it?

By the time he'd gotten to the store and opened it up, he found himself depressed all over again. With a groan, he hunched forward over the counter, burying his face in his hands as he tried to fend off the headache he knew was on its way. He didn't even hear the bell on the door jingle, he didn't even realize there was someone else in the store until they had him pressed up against one of the shelves. They pushed him back with so much force, all of the books on the top shelf came down on them.

When he opened his eyes, he was startled to find himself staring at the man Nel was constantly chattering about. The look reflecting in the taller man's eyes was enough to give Tesla chills. "W-Wha…?" It was all he could manage, too startled to get anything out, much less fight back.

Nnoitra's arm pressed into his collar bone, and Tesla found it much harder to breach. "Who the hell are you? And what do you think you're doing? Why are you stalking Nel?" the taller man demanded, voice colored with anger. If Tesla were to be honest, he was terrified, but he wasn't thinking clear enough to admit to that. The only thing that registered at that point were Nnoitra's words.

Stalking Nel? Sure, he liked her—almost obsessively so—but he'd never gone as far as to follow her around. That was just ridiculous. "I'm not…I wasn't…" Nnoitra loosened his grip up enough so that Tesla wasn't pressed into the bookcase, only to slam into him again. Tesla was momentarily stunned, and completely out of breath at that point.

"Stay away from her." Nnoitra growled, leaving no room for argument or defense. He backed off then, and his sudden absence left Tesla without support. The shorter man dropped down to all fours, panting for breath as his eyes followed Nnoitra.

Nnoitra pulled on his glasses and headed for the door, pausing at the counter to look over a book that had been set aside. After a moment, he set some cash on the counter to pay for the book and walked out.

Tesla sat back on his haunches, staring at the door in disbelief. He didn't quite take notice of the way the building began to shake moments later. He didn't even realize anything was wrong until a deafening scream sounded throughout the street, and his front window was blown in.

After that, there was a moment of silence, like everything had gone slow. He was vaguely aware of the shard of glass in his throat, and the fact that it was getting just a little bit harder to breath as the seconds past, but everything had gone black before the pain could faze him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Four**

_Her Smile_

_-_

She frowned a little as she peered through the window and couldn't spot him. The couple sitting at the table just on the other side of the window was giving her odd looks. She just flashed them a grin and continued down the street. Maybe he was in the next shop.

"Nel!"

She spun around upon hearing his voice and picked him out across the street, standing in front of the book store, where she worked. There was a moment of confusion as she wondered what on earth he was doing in there, but then she spotted the fantasy novel in his hand and almost rolled her eyes. He was absolutely addicted to those stories.

An amused smile tugged at the corners of her lips, and she stepped out into the street without thinking, eager catch up to him. But the blare of a horn gave her a start, and she jumped back to avoid a taxi as it zipped past her. She caught herself on the light post behind her, missing the horrified and angry look on Nnoitra's face as he cut across the street and strode towards her.

"Are you insane? Didn't your mother ever teach you to look both ways before you cross the street?" Oh, this conversation again. He grabbed her by the arm and hauled her towards the nearest café, having forgotten their coffee back at the book store. A few people who passed looked like they wanted to interfere, but they were too afraid of Nnoitra to try. "Why do you insist on scaring me?" She could almost hear him say, "Why do you insist on making me care _at all_?" and a little frown worked its way onto her face.

"Hey…" She blinked, glancing down to see his long fingers, curled around her smaller hands as she clutched the paper he'd left back at the hat shop. Up until that point, she hadn't even realized they'd stopped. When she looked up at him, she took notice of the way his frown mirrored her own, and forced herself to relax, her features automatically smoothing over. "Are you okay?" he asked carefully, and she smiled.

"I'm fine, see? Not a scratch." she assured, and leaned up to kiss him, lips puckered. But as he leaned forward to reciprocate, something caught her eye and she grabbed onto the lapels of Nnoitra's coat, dragging him down to the ground as a car flipped in air and crashed through the window of the café just behind them.

After a moment of stunned silence, Nnoitra reacted quickly, pulling her away from the building as it began to collapse, and out into the panic-ridden streets. Everything happened in a blur after that. A roar shook the air, shook her to the core. The windows of all the buildings in a one block radius shattered. Nnoitra yanked her around the corner just in time to avoid being crushed by a car.

That's when she saw them—two giant creatures of gray, and orange, and white. The smaller one's eyes were a shade of red that she'd never seen before, and it fascinated and frightened her all at once. It had seen her, too and it laughed gleefully, taking a thundering step forward before shooting a hand out to grab her.

"No!" Nnoitra dove in front of her and the creatures thick claws caught the entire left side of his body, sending him flying. She watched in horror as his body slammed into the pavement, rolling twice before stilling completely.

"N..No…" she choked out, momentarily forgetting the monsters presence as she made a dash for her best friend.

The second Hollow had seen her, however, and it flashed a wicked grin as it raised its hand, focusing a great deal of energy into its index finger as it took aim.

Nel didn't see it though, only felt the energy tear into her side. She crashed into the ground, much like Nnoitra had, barely three yards away from her destination. She lay there for a moment, everything around her a haze of color and sound. Her head tilted towards Nnoitra as he came to, staring confusedly at the newspaper clutched in his hands before his eyes met hers.

And she smiled.

-

End


End file.
